Coming into this season, the common belief was that Colorado had enough firepower on offense to compete in the Pac-12. If the defense could just stop somebody, the Buffaloes might be in for a good year.

Five weeks into the season, the perception of the Buffs has flipped.

The defense has been solid during CU's 3-2 start. If the offense was clicking, the Buffs might actually be 4-1, or 5-0.

"We're not hitting on all cylinders it doesn't seem like to me right now," CU head coach Mike MacIntyre said after last week's 41-24 loss to Oregon. "Our offense is better than that and should be better than that."

Last year, it was better than that.

In 2014, the Buffs set numerous school records on that side of the ball. Quarterback Sefo Liufau set 54 records on his own.

With Liufau and many of his top weapons from 2014 — including record-breaking receiver Nelson Spruce — back this year, the Buffs figured to pick up where they left off, but that hasn't been the case.

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"We were able to get into it early last year," Spruce said. "With what teams were giving us early in this season, we were running the ball a bunch, and I don't think we really developed that rhythm we had going early last year. I think it's only a matter of time before we start getting into it."

The overall numbers through five games — 33.4 points and 443.6 yards per game — are better than last year, but blowout wins against Massachusetts and Nicholls significantly impact those numbers.

For the most part, the Buffs are still searching for the offensive success they had a year ago.

"I think we just haven't really found our rhythm and I just don't know if it's been some injuries, where we just haven't had the same group in there," offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren said. "I'm not sure. I think we've got to keep pushing and keep working during the week. We've hit our rhythm at times; I just don't know if we've been as consistent as we were at times last year."

Injuries have hit the running backs and, more importantly, the offensive line. Left tackle Jeromy Irwin is out for the season with a torn ACL. His backup, Sam Kronshage, didn't practice this week and might skip Saturday's game at ASU with a concussion.

Those injuries, combined with CU's continued rotation as guard, have created a lot of moving parts up front. Conventional wisdom says cohesion among the five lineman is critical, but CU hasn't had that.

"Any time you can stay healthy up front it's going to help you," Lindgren said. "That's hurt us a little bit, but that's just the kind of stuff that happens during the season, and we have to have some young guys step up. You can't make excuses."

Liufau hasn't made any excuses, but he's been banged up, too. He injured the AC joint in his right shoulder against Colorado State on Sept. 19 and was limited in practice the next two weeks. Last week, he got beat up by Oregon toward the end of the game, but said he was fine this week.

CU admits that Liufau's shoulder injury has bothered him, leading to the question of whether it's better for CU to play a banged-up Liufau, or turn to a healthy backup, whether it's Jordan Gehrke or Cade Apsay.

"That's a tough one," Lindgren said. "I'm very confident in our backup guys, but at the same time, Sefo has so much experience. I wouldn't say he's been losing us games. There's a handful of throws each game when you watch the film that man, 'He can make that throw and he's made that throw before.' We just have to get him to be more consistent with it."

Consistency is something the Buffs haven't had much on offense this year. They've been feast or famine in the run game and the passing offense isn't as explosive as last year. The Buffs have also been inconsistent on third downs, and they have the worst red-zone offense in the Pac-12.

"Definitely not pressing the panic button," Liufau said. "We understand we're not doing as well as we would like, but we are looking into it film-wise and seeing what we can do to fix that and trying to be more productive like we were last year.

"I think it's every position making a mistake here and there that's costly for the offense as a whole. It's the little details that we're missing."

Because they've done it in the past — and at times this year — the Buffs are confident they can fix the little details and get their offense rolling.

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